Musk Hints of Twitter Bankruptcy in Bid to Cut Costs

Elon Musk has reportedly told Twitter employees that the company could go bankrupt.

In addition, two members of Musk’s new leadership team at the social media platform have resigned, Bloomberg reported Thursday (Nov. 10), citing unnamed sources.

Musk mentioned the possibility of a Twitter bankruptcy during a call with employees — his first address to staff since he acquired the company — while also saying that it was urgent that the company make its Twitter Blue membership “something users will want to pay for,” according to the report.

On Thursday, accounts with blue checkmarks — a symbol that indicates an account has been verified — were impersonating companies that advertise on Twitter. This was made possible by recent changes made to the subscription rules since Musk purchased the company, the report said.

The two executives who have left the company are Yoel Roth, who oversaw Twitter’s trust and safety efforts, and Robin Wheeler, a sales vice president. Roth took that position after Musk pushed out most of the company’s executive team, the report stated.

As this was written, the LinkedIn accounts of both Roth and Wheeler showed them working at Twitter.

Earlier Thursday, three other executives — the chief information security officer, the chief privacy officer and the chief compliance officer — left the company, per the report.

PYMNTS has reached out to Twitter for comment.

The report comes six days after Musk said in a tweet that Twitter had seen a “massive drop in revenue” due to activist groups pressuring advertisers to leave the platform.

Musk’s Nov. 4 tweet came as activists protested potential changes in how Twitter will moderate content after his purchase of the company and as a number of advertisers had moved away from the platform.

In related news, Twitter debuted and quickly deleted a gray check for verified accounts. The gray check appeared for only a few hours before being removed Wednesday (Nov. 9), The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday.

Musk suggested in a tweet that users instead use the existing blue check that comes with a Twitter Blue subscription, according to the report.